Monkeypox Outbreak: What you need to know about it

Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease caused by the Monkeypox virus and can be spread from animals to humans by coming into contact with blood, body fluids and lesions of infected animals (squirrels, rats, monkeys and others).

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) states that it could also be gotten by consuming poorly cooked meat and animal products of infected animals.

It could also be spread from human to human through droplets from coughing, sneezing, contact with blood, body fluids and rash of infected individuals, as well as contact with contaminated clothing and linens of infected individuals.

The Service explains that it could take between five to 21 days from the time of contact with an infected person or animal for one to start showing symptoms.

Symptoms of the disease include Fever (increased body temperature), headache, body ache, weakness, and swelling of lymph nodes.

The fever is followed by the development of skin rash (within one to three days) on the entire body, however, it is more concentrated on the face and limbs.

On the characteristics of the rash, the GHS said they varied from a few to thousands from the soles of the feet, palms of the hands, mucosal membranes, conjunctiva, to cornea and could also affect the genital.

Most people, it said would recover fully from the disease (which may take up to four weeks).

It might also be mild or severe in one patient or the other and could cause death in some cases.

The GHS, therefore, entreated the public to protect themselves by avoiding contact with animals that could harbour the virus, including dead animals and avoid eating the meat of animals that could harbour the virus or ensure they were thoroughly cooked.

It also advised them to practise good personal hygiene (including hand hygiene) always, especially after contact with infected animals or humans and report immediately to the nearest health facility if they experienced any skin rash or symptoms.

-GNA

POST TAGS

ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson

[email protected]

An Entrepreneur, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Communications Executive and Philanthropist. Editor-in-Chief of www.233times.com. A Senior Journalist with Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper. An alumnus of Adisadel College where he read General Arts. His first degree is in Bachelor of Arts - Political Science (major) and History (minor) from the University of Ghana. He holds MSc in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Energy with Public Relations (PR) from the Robert Gordon University in the United Kingdom. He is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow who studied at Clark Atlanta University in USA on the Business and Entrepreneurship track.

View all posts by: Nana Kwesi Coomson  

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ABOUT 233TIMES

233times is a Ghanaian media house which serves as a major source of exclusive interviews ,music and video downloads, news and more.

233times reports on major events,news covering entertainment, politics, sports, business, technology, etc from within Ghana, Africa and beyond.

We have a platform for the amateur artistes to portray their staggering talents ...more...

CONTACT US

For further enquiries, please contact us via our contact us page link: CONTACT

WE ON SOCIAL MEDIA. FOLLOW US


To advertise with us or make enquiries, please visit 233times.net/advertise or call Selorm (Selorm) | Selorm (Nana Kwesi)